For What It's Worth Meaning

The song was written by Phil Ochs. Ochs like Seeger was a college dropout, but he went to school one more year than Seeger did. After Phil Ochs dropped out of college he started his route to New York City. Sonnyochs.com says, “Phil stated out singing at open mikes and passing the hat” (Phil Ochs Biography). Phil like Seeger wrote several different protest songs and he even had a couple of albums that had his protest songs in them. His protest son “What are you fighting for” was a bit different than Seeger’s song “Bring ‘em Home”. Seeger’s protest song was fairly short and every other line had the title of the song in it. Ochs song was a bit different. Both songs got the point across but in different ways. Ochs song was more of a song the people could listen to on the radio and get some enjoyment out of it. It was a normal running song so it kept the listener interested for the whole runtime. Ochs song only had the title of the song in it 8 times to Seeger’s 42 times. One of the lines in the song “What are you fighting for” says, “And before you walk out on your job in answer to the call, just think about the millions that have no job at all”. That line has a pretty big meaning by saying that you are just going to leave your job for nothing. There are a lot of people in the country that would love to have a job and people just quit their jobs to go to the Vietnam War. That’s one thing that

In a broader context, protest musicians composed songs about student protests in which they firmly sided with the protesters, supporting their actions and condemning those trying to stop the protests. (OnlyEverArabella, n.d.). The ideas were expressed in music as it served as a form of publicity and promotion for the counterculture community during this era. The government continuously tried to prevent media coverage about these movements but their music simply spoke the

The songs with lyrics that required extensive analysis and introspection on my part. They held more than just confusing banter, they carried the depths of despair or altitudes of happiness the lyricist was experiencing. Like “I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost/The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss” from Kendrick Lamar’s How much a dollar cost. After months of analyzing what Lamar was trying to express in this lyric I wondered if a dollar goes toward drugs or overly flashy material goods, is it really worth anything? I understood that Lamar felt as if his greed over money was causing him to lose touch with what was right. Which ultimately caused me to realize every dollar I lusted for meant nothing if I invested them in the wrong

In the article “That’s Why I’m Marching”: Mobilizing African Americans for War,” The authors have summarized the story behind the music “Freedom Road.” During this time African Americans were told they had to participate in the WWII and fight for their country; meanwhile, they were segregated (“ Mobilizing African Americans for War,” Par.1). Despite the segregation, African Americans still served for their country (“Mobilizing African Americans for War,” Par. 2). During the war, African American leaders had to remind their people that this was their country and they lived here too. Hughes also hoped that during the war the racism would weaken outside of the war. This is when he introduced his poem to Josh white to produce the music. This song represented the march for ending racism and gaining equality (“ Mobilizing African Americans for War,” Par.3). In both the “political and the cultural” standards, during World War II Black the American society was challenged by the black people to equalize their participation in their society. The lyrics of “Freedom Road” is an attraction to end racism and beginning of equality. In the lyrics, it says, “There’s room in this plan for every race, Some folk think that freedom just ain’t right, Those are the very people I want to fight.” This lyric is speaking out to the people to notice their fight for freedom. Moreover, After the World War II, the

This song represent the ninth amendment because he should allow to have his privacy even though it is not written in the Constitution.

Our history records many events that took place, whether they were times of plenty or times of famine. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” dealt with the Great Depression of 1929. This song became the anthem for this time period because of its description of the calamity that would strike the United States. It was an outcry of what was to come; the stock market would crash and the economy would fail. The dreams that the “Roaring Twenties” had promised were no longer in sight but the fear and disillusionment of the thirties became a reality.

Since the song was originally written in 2005, and then re appeared in the Fight With Tools album it makes sense that the song would by influenced by the war America was fighting in Iraq at the time. In 2003 the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq, and from then on until the present many Americans and non-Americans have died as a result of wartime violence. Even though the war went on many Americans really started to question the reason why the war was still going on if the weapons of mas destruction were already found, the reason given for the invasion of Iraq. Some also questioned the entire reason for the war; according to a MSNBC Documentary, “Some of the most senior officials in the U.S. government, including President Bush himself, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, asserted these claims in public with absolute confidence, even while privately, ranking U.S. military officers and intelligence professionals were voicing their doubts”(“ How the Bush Administration Sold the Iraq War”). However, the people did nothing and the war continued. The song was meant for people who wanted to change what is happening around

For instance, the song “Ohio” seems to lament the Kent State shootings at the surface level, but from a more analytic perspective, condemns Richard Nixon and the United States military for their irresponsible and unwarranted actions in the Vietnam war, which will be discussed more later in the paper. The mood and tone of the song, which captures the frustration that the youth of America felt regarding Nixon regarding the war in Vietnam when this song, parallels the mood and tone of Starr’s motown classic, “War.” Much like “Ohio,” “War” also delivers a clear and powerful mood and tone of frustration towards the powers that be regarding the war and its drastic effects on society. “War” differs from “Ohio” in the method that it uses to portray this mood, in that “Ohio” utilizes a somewhat typical chorus-verse style to deliver its message, while “War” relies on audience involvement through the use of a call-and-response technique. Throughout the song, Starr takes on the role of a feux-preacher, begging his audience to join with him as they sing, equating their beliefs that the war in Vietnam is worthless and detrimental to society. In spite of these similarities in mood and tone, the two songs could not be more different from a musical perspective, as “Ohio” uses

The whole room would be in darkness but for a sharp, bright spotlight on Holiday’s face;..there would be no encore. (Lynskey) People would either sit in silence, clap, or walk out in disgust because of the song. The song was about the lynching and racism against African Americans in her time. “While the protest song can easily fall into the trappings of sentimentality, the virtuosic performances of Holiday surpass this level in her creation of art.”

This song relates to my topic because of the line “is it too late now to say sorry”. Yes I absolutely hate this song, but it demonstrates how the officer should have said sorry and paid for the hair cut. The colonists of the community were throwing ice and rocks, while the patriots shot and stabbed everyone. In the court case, the “leaders and people” of the colonists were charged with the crimes.

Patterson Hood, the lead singer of Drive-By Truckers, wrote “What It Means” a few years ago in protest of the Ferguson shooting of Trayvon Martin. To Hood’s disappointment, in addition to the disappointment of millions, the song is still incredibly appropriate in today’s society. In Killer Mike’s “Reagan,” Killer Mike does not only blame Reagan for the atrocities of society, but includes the administrations that follow in both H.W. and George Bush, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama. The point that both artists are trying to get across is that the idea of social and racial injustice is ever-common today as it was in some of the worst times in American history. The only difficulty in seeing the issues that plague society is that the knowledge of the average citizen is clouded by false information stimulated by politics. To find the truth in the corruption of society, it is up to each citizen of the country to address the notions that “There’s no sunlight in our ass’ and our heads are stuck up in it,” or if we “Will ever do it big, or just keep settling for lil’ shit?” In other words, everyone needs to start thinking about the truth with an intuitive, logical perspective as opposed to what politics are feeding the public. Also, if people want change, they cannot settle for small victories, they need to enact drastic actions to witness notable changes. An

Springsteen wrote this song to highlight the suffering of the Iraq war and the needless damage it was causing(songfacts.com). People were frustrated and wanted everyone to know it; they found an outlet through Rock. Rock and Roll embodies the quintessential American spirit of standing up for what you believe in and fighting

The song highlights these peoples’ views in regard to the war, by illustrating the immense urge to not go and fight, that “it ain’t me”. I feel as if this song shows us a turning point in the US government’s approach to the war itself. With its release closely following Nixon’s silent majority speech, the song was able to go against what Nixon said by screaming to the American people that we as a country need to end this conflict, despite whatever our elected officials

Meaning in music is derived from parenthetical analysis of several technical aspects including lyrics, form, historical context, emotional content, and personal connection. A hermeneutical approach to the Star-Spangled Banner can yield only interpretational results. Therefore, we must examine the more concrete details of the work, and how the music relates to the meaning of the protests as stated by Colin Kaepernick in August of 2016.

I am not the person people ask to choose what song to listen to next. Rather, I am the person people try to avoid contact with when this question arises. My music taste centers around thought provoking and political songs from other decades. “The Logical Song” by Supertramp is a song that discusses how society and authority can transform individuals into senseless “vegetables”. I love connecting its verses to the objection of conformity and obedience that is featured in Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It's Worth” is another one of my favorite songs. Similar to “The Logical Song”, it promotes the message of speaking one’s own thoughts and opposing established beliefs. As I love proactively voicing